How can the return value of a system command executed in PHP be interpreted and handled effectively?

When executing a system command in PHP using functions like `exec()`, `shell_exec()`, or `system()`, the return value can provide important information about the success or failure of the command. To interpret and handle this return value effectively, you can capture it in a variable and then use conditional statements to check for specific values that indicate success or failure. This allows you to take appropriate actions based on the outcome of the command. 

// Execute a system command and capture the return value
$returnValue = shell_exec('ls -l');

// Check the return value to determine the success or failure of the command
if ($returnValue === null) {
    echo "Command executed successfully.";
} else {
    echo "Command failed with return value: $returnValue";
}

Keywords

system command PHP return value interpretation handling

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